The creature of an iconic wrestling video game franchise has passed away. Polygon reports that Masato Masuda, who created the Fire Pro Wrestling series, passed away at the age of forty-eight.

The news was revealed by Grasshopper Manufacture CEO Goichi "Suda51" Suda, who posted the following on Twitlonger:

The creator of Fire Pro-wrestling, Masato Masuda, has passed away. He was 48 years old, still young. I genuinely pray for his happiness in the next world. He was one of the greatest creators of video games and he was my direct teacher. Thank you for giving us our favorite Fire Pro-wrestling. You are the god of it.

The Fire Pro Wrestling games were preceded by Pro Wrestling on the NES, which Masuda also created. The Fire Pro series was incredibly popular in Japan and crossed over to the US in a couple instances.

Read more at http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/318532/Fire-Pro-Wrestling-Game-Creator-Passes-Away.htm#aHvjZGMWKCPYRaYl.99